Edward sat at home, barely able to concentrate on the brief that lay open on the desk in front of him as his mind kept wandering to Bella.
He found himself opening up to her more and more, last night's incident in the gallery and their subsequent conversation in the sculpture garden being a prime example of that. He had never spoken about that picture and how it made him feel every time he saw it, much less how he had been feeling at the moment the photograph was taken.
When he'd found out that the exhibit they were seeing was comprised of James Hunter's photographs, he had nearly turned tail and run in the other direction. It hadn't been easy to go into the gallery, but the fact that Hunter had not been in attendance had made it easier.
He hadn't told Bella everything about that photograph.
Edward had been standing there, sobbing over his parents' coffins, feeling his chest heaving with anger at them for leaving him, when the clicking of Hunter's camera had penetrated his grief stricken mind. He had let his hand fall away from his face and saw Hunter standing across from him, snapping away. His feelings shifted away from anger at that moment. At first he felt confused and hurt that anyone would intrude on such a private moment.
Hunter had continued to take pictures even as Edward looked at him with tears streaming down his face. Then the photographer had slowly put down his camera, smirked a bit, and shrugged before he turned and walked away without saying a word.
Edward had stayed, standing there in the cold until someone had come along and led him away from the gravesite. He couldn't even remember who it was that had done so.
He had still been so grief stricken when the photograph appeared on countless newspaper and magazine covers the next several days that he really didn't care, but as he slowly started to recover from the grief of his loss, the picture seemed to be staring at him at every turn.
Several years later he found out more about James Hunter. Before the publication of Edward's picture at his parents' gravesides, the man had been nothing more than a photographer that took freelance work for local catalogs and ad campaigns. He had had one or two things published by the AP, but they were unspectacular photographs. Apparently he had gotten into photography in college since he thought it was a good way to find women.
After Hunter had been awarded a Pulitzer for the picture, he had remained a freelance news photographer, but he got funding from different news organizations to cover various newsworthy events. Edward had seen some of his photographs over the years and he always found them to be voyeuristic in nature, whether it was his own photograph, the photographs that were taken during the famines in Africa which showed hungry, starving people, or the photographs Hunter had taken in the Middle East of dying soldiers.
He really did hate the majority of the man's photographs.
Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate enough to get through the brief, Edward closed it and with a sigh he walked to the fridge to get a beer. He was just about to turn on the television when his Blackberry rang and he picked it up without checking the caller ID. "This is Masen."
"Chief," he heard Emmett say, "it's Emmett."
"What's up?" Edward asked.
"Uh…what's up with you?" Emmett asked cautiously.
Edward knew that voice, something was wrong. "What's going on, Emmett?" He knew there was already an edge to his voice.
"What makes you think something is going on?" Emmett asked, obviously trying to avoid whatever it was he had called Edward about.
Edward ran his hand over his face and frowned. "Just tell me, Emmett. Did the Senator call you? Is it Alec?"
"Oh, no, man. Nothing like that," Emmett said quickly.
Edward let out a sigh of relief. "Well, something's obviously going on."
"Have you read the paper?" Emmett asked hesitantly.
"The Post? Yes, of course," Edward said. He read the paper every day. It was necessary to get information.
"The whole paper, Edward?" Emmett asked.
"What am I supposed to have seen that I obviously didn't?" Edward asked, trying not to get annoyed.
"Did you read the Magazine?"
"You mean the section with dating advice and entertainment news? Why would I do that?" Edward asked, confused. "Come to think of it, why are you reading that section…" he started to joke, but then he heard Emmett sigh.
"Rosie was the one that called and gave me a heads up. Small blurb fifth page in, right hand side," Emmett said.
Frowning Edward got up and grabbed the paper off the coffee table, looking for the section Emmett indicated. It took him a while to find it and flip to the right page, but then seeing it, he whispered, "Oh fuck."
)( )( )( )(
Bella was in the kitchen making a sandwich while Alice got ready for her date with Jasper. The day had been a lazy one. She'd watched some of the news shows and had read through some emails, but other than that she and Alice had mostly hung out, talking and trying on clothes that Alice had brought back with her from New York. Alice had brought Bella several articles of clothing from Alistair's line and though Bella had tried to refuse, Alice had insisted she keep them.
As she looked at the clock on the microwave and noticed the time, Bella called out, "Alice! You should get going soon if you're going to meet Jasper!"
Alice came out of to the common area of the apartment dressed in a pretty, but simple blue dress. "I'm ready. Besides, I have time. I'm not meeting him for over an hour."
As Bella walked to the living room with her sandwich and a bottle of water she smiled at Alice. "You look nice."
Alice sat down on the chair located across the couch from Bella and slipped on her strappy heels. "Thank you. I just hope tonight goes well."
"Me too, Alice." Bella frowned a bit. "Alice, I'm not taking sides or anything in this, but you should probably know that, well, he's been kinda miserable without you."
Alice paused in her effort to get the strap to her heels fastened and looked at Bella with a sigh. "I know. He kept calling and leaving messages. Said we really needed to talk and he wanted to make things right and explain things." Alice sighed and continued trying to strap on her shoe.
"So you're meeting him at the restaurant?" Bella asked as she sipped at her water.
"Yeah, I didn't want him to have to drop me off if things didn't go well, you know?" Alice said with a frown.
Bella nodded, completely understanding.
She had just taken a bit of her sandwich and Alice had finished strapping on her shoes when there was a knock on the door.
Both women looked at each other in confusion. "Were you expecting Edward to come back tonight?" Alice asked.
Bella shook her head and got up after wiping her lips with a napkin. "I'll see who it is."
Looking through the peephole in the door, Bella was surprised to see Jasper standing there and as she moved to unlock it, she said, "It's Jasper."
Alice looked surprised and watched as Jasper came into the apartment, scowling.
"Did you see this?" Jasper asked, waving around a magazine or something in his hand.
"See what?" Alice asked, glancing at Bella a moment before turning her wide eyes to Jasper again.
Jasper didn't even look at Alice and looked to Bella. "Did you see this?" He thrust the paper towards her.
Bella blinked and took the paper from him and looked over the page he had it open to, not exactly sure what she was looking for.
"Jasper, what's going on?" Alice asked.
Bella's eyes finally found what she assumed Jasper was telling her to look for, a small blurb on the left hand side of the page:
Is one of D.C.'s (and the country's) most eligible bachelors off the market? Several eye witnesses report seeing none other than Edward Masen, Jr., Chief of Staff to Senator Aro Volturi and heir apparent to the Masen political dynasty, being very affectionate with Isabella Swan, Director of Communications to none other than Senator Carlisle Cullen. Ms. Swan, lately rumored to be dating Jasper Hale, her boss/Chief of Staff for Senator Cullen seemed enamored with Mr. Masen, or is she just playing the role to gain information? After all, it is expected that both Senators will be seeking their party's nomination for President. An announcement is even expected from Senator Cullen's office this week and it seems that political strategy for Senator Cullen's team extends into bedroom antics.
Jasper hadn't answered Alice and just watched Bella as she reddened as she read the article. Alice looked on with a worried expression and when she was done she asked, "What is it?" Before Bella could answer Alice took the paper from her and started to read.
"I knew that this was going to fucking happen!" Jasper said loudly enough to cause both Bella and Alice to jump.
"Jasper…" Bella started.
"No, Isabella, there's nothing you can say. Didn't I say this was a bad idea? Do you realize how that makes the Senator look? How it makes me look?" Jasper said angrily.
Bella was getting angry now, but it was Alice that spoke up, "How it makes you look? Did you actually just go there, Jasper Whitlock?"
Jasper turned his glare to Alice, but before he could say anything Alice continued, "She was only rumored to be dating you because that's what you wanted!"
"Alice, this has nothing to do with that…" Jasper started.
"Of course it does! If you had been honest in the first place about our relationship and not been embarrassed by it this could have never been printed!" Alice screamed.
Bella was about to say something, but couldn't get a word in edgewise as the argument between Alice and Jasper continued.
"You think I give a fuck about them saying that I dated her? I don't care about that! I care that it makes us, your father and I, look like unscrupulous fools!" Jasper replied.
"And, they make Bella look like a whore and that's completely your fault!" Alice countered.
Bella had had enough and she knew that the argument wasn't going to end anytime soon. Leaving the living room she made her way to her bedroom, closed the door, and turned on some music, trying to drown out the shouting voices from the living room.
She sat there, her heart pounding and her faced flushed. She knew that the world of politics was cutthroat, but she didn't realize that simply dating Edward, someone she wanted to be with because of who he was inside, not because of his position in the political arena or society, could be detrimental to her career. Jasper was her friend, but he was also her boss, and he was very unhappy about her relationship.
Bella had to wonder if she was going to lose her job, and though she had no doubts that Edward was worth it – she did love him after all – she had to wonder what was going to become of her if this led to her being fired. Protecting a candidate's reputation was top priority in any campaign.
She was still pondering on these things when she felt her cellphone buzz in her pocket and seeing Edward's name she hesitated before answering, "Hello?"
"Bella! Have you read the paper?" Edward asked in a worried tone.
"I…Jasper brought it over," she said hesitantly.
"Fuck a duck," he said, borrowing one of Emmett's more unusual sayings. It even made Bella smile a bit, though of course he couldn't see it. "He was upset, wasn't he?"
"He is, yes," Bella replied.
"Is? You mean he's still there?" Edward asked, surprised.
Bella sighed. "He and Alice are, um, were discussing it in the living room, I believe their…heated conversation has moved on to other things."
"I see," he said quietly. "Are you all right?"
"I'm a bit…upset," Bella said honestly.
"I'm so sorry, Bella," he said with a sigh.
Bella smiled slightly. "I'm not upset at you, Edward."
"Oh…well, I'm still sorry you're upset. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, you know?" he stated.
Bella frowned. "Shouldn't we just leave it be?"
"No," he said gently, "we shouldn't. No one has the right to question your reputation like that just for being with me."
She had to blink back tears at his words and she whispered, "Thank you, Edward."